estoria | [ open ] 'cause baby you're a firework

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[ open ] 'cause baby you're a firework

Who: Open mingle for any interested Cerealians! Or those who come by the park coincidentally.
When: ICly whatever Friday is happening during Event 33.
Where: The Park in the Residential District.
What: In an effort led by a ten year old and a sword that is not ten years old, Post-Robocolypse Cerealia gets a fireworks, watermelon, bottled water, and BYOB (bring your own blanket/beer/barbecue) late-summer early-fall afternoon celebration. That ends with the fireworks. Nothing can go wrong! (Anything you so desire can go wrong.)
Rating/Warning: There's watermelon to be cut and fireworks to be set off, so potential injury and fire involved.

There's very little formality to the whole of the affair. Anyone who wants can wander into the park, a few tables set up to hold water bottles, the area clear of debris and former robotic gardeners. Any dangerous areas of vegetation have been carefully marked with CAUTION — POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS tape. There are several watermelons carefully corralled together on the ground, paper plates, and a bag for trash tied to one of the tables.

Nearby, there's also a whole table of fireworks, from the handheld to the relatively safe to set off to the this probably should only be handled by a professional, but no lighters; all of those are kept over with the water bottles. Safety First!

The later afternoon is for slicing and serving watermelon and water (or any of the foods that people may choose to bring), with Chihiro at least fully encouraging people to use weapons to cut the watermelon (...) and turn it into a kind of impromptu show. Once the skies are dark enough, the fireworks will begin. Anyone willing to help out will be generally welcome, and sparklers and the smallest fireworks are around for anyone to grab hold of and have fun. The truly big fireworks are going to be set off at the far end of the park by a few brave, intrepid souls. (Unless someone keeps Chihiro away, that includes one ten year old.)

Pray they don't like themselves on fire or explode themselves, especially as almost every person at the party is probably guaranteed to not be fully functional. What can go wrong? Let's have a watermelon and fireworks show!

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[Well, you only live once.

Kaoru waited patiently for her sparkler to be lit before she pulled it back.]

It's been a while since I've played with one of these! I haven't touched them at all since coming here.

[She should just buy some and she can try lighting them with Shiho, Kaz and Minato.]

I'm sure you also had some ideas they didn't think of! Like actually doing this in the first place.

[ Chihiro's smile is small and pleased. Awh... she likes you, Kaoru. You've officially passed Chihiro's very difficult friend vetting process. (The one where she has no friend vetting process.) ]

Mm! I thought it would be nice to do something fun, with how everything's been lately... we're heading into fall now, but it seemed like we could still say it's summer enough for fireworks. Sparklers are really nice, though. They're easier to share with friends. You can even write things out with them if you're fast enough.

[Chihiro, please come up with a better vetting process...not that Kaoru has much room to talk, seeming to become friends with virtual strangers on a regular basis.]

Hey, as long as it's warm enough for girls to walk around in short skirts without stockings it's still summer as far as I'm concerned! And you can't have summer without watermelon and sparklers!

[She's grinning the whole time, feeling more like herself than she has since for a few days.]

I'm Kaoru. Kaoru Akashi, what's your name?

[ She likes this young woman all the more for agreeing about the importance of summer fun. And hey, at least Chihiro doesn't believe everyone is legitimately her friend... but she does believe in being kind and leaving that door open.

... no resume required... ]

I'm Chihiro Ogino. It's nice to meet you, Kaoru-san. Did you get some of the watermelon from earlier?

Chihiro! A cute name befitting a cute girl!

[This is practically her go to line at this point.]

No. I thought it'd be better if I stayed away from other people. [Which makes her sound like some kind of hermit. Great. But still...] Actually, you probably shouldn't be so close to me either.

[ It's a sweet thing to say, though Chihiro more likes her name than thinks "why yes indeed I am cute." (For the most part, she's not concerned if she's not trying to be cute. That may well change... in the next few years.)

However, she takes statements like warnings serously, so with that she backs up about a meter, expression likewise serious. She waits until then before she asks the question: ]

Why?

[ But she's not challenging or assuming the request was made for the heck of it. Maybe it is, or maybe she has a personal space bubble much larger than other people's, or maybe there's another reason altogether. ]

Is this still too close?

[Why indeed.]

I have powers and they've been going out of control.

[When she had been five the distance people kept, the distance she kept from people hurt. It had stung because she hadn't asked for the power to hurt people and it seemed like it'd never get better.

She knew better now so she's still smiling.]

Maybe a little bit further? I'd rather be safe than sorry.

[ Chihiro nods once again, taking another few steps back. All without looking away; she's tracking how far is "far enough" based on her new friend's responses to Chihiro's movements. Once she seems to be at a safe distance as dictated by Kaoru, she comes to a stop. Her sparkler continues to issue sparks and light by her side, a not-so-silent beacon dappling light and shadow across Chihiro's body. ]

That's been happening for people again... Is it dangerous for you, too?

[ Or just those around her? Chihiro can imagine the damage any one person can do by having powers fail to respond under their active control. Goodness, even her roommate could easily accidentally kill. ]

[Technically, in the worst case scenario not even all the way across the city is guarranteed to be safe. But if the worst case scenario happens, Kaoru has about twenty minutes to get the hell out of this place so she lets Chihiro stop about a few metres away.]

Hey, you don't need to worry about me! I'm strong, you know! [Which is not an answer at all, but it's better than explaining that she had nearly crushed herself with her powers when she was ten and her powers are a lot stronger now than they had been back then.]

Hopefully it stops soon. Seriously, this is such a drag!

[ From where she comes to a stop, Chihiro nods, offering a small smile in empathy. ]

I'm sorry. It's got to be frustrating. I know I've seen it be difficult for everyone who needs their abilities to stay in control.

[ For comfort and safety; she takes the dangerous seriously, and presumes it's dangerous when the question isn't answered. ]

I'm not sure the weird stuff ever lasts for more than week at a time here... but it'd be nice if this particular weird stuff stopped happening altogether.

{The lack of fear, of nervousness was nice. (It made her more sure than ever that nothing would happen: she simply will not allow her powers to hurt anyone.)]

Yeah, that'd be great. But I doubt it'd happen. I mean, it hasn't stopped this entire time, so I doubt it'd stop now.

Mm... it's like a broken record. Dad actually had one of those old LP things, you know? It'd make this weird scratching noise when the needle hit a scratch. Jarring, kind of like stuff here.

[ how she thinks that's an apt comparison is anyone's guess. she's trying to capture the sense that there's a rhythm and pattern that should exist, and yet the needle of their lives finds the wrong groove, tossed up and out, skipping instead of playing on as the table just keeps turning. ]

[She doesn't think she's ever listened to a record before. It sounds more like Granny's thing. Or maybe Minamoto's. Maybe she should give it a try sometime.]

I've never heard a record before, so I'll take your word on it about them being similar.

A broken record's probably less dangerous though. [Unless you threw it at someone.]

Yeah, broken records mostly just hurt your ears.

[ there's a brief, wry smile out of Chihiro at that. ]

Still, there are nice things here, too. Like the fireworks, or the people we meet. Even if we can't always be close to them.

Yeah. There are a lot of people here I'm glad I met.

[She cocks her head a little.]

What, the fireworks, or the people? [She says it half jokingly, an attempt at levity.]

[ It provokes Chihiro into giggling, shaking her head. ]

Both? I mean, some of us do keep going blind, so it might be both.

Yeah, better stay away from things that explode if you're having trouble seeing.

But hey, at least you can still stop, drop and roll even if you can't see!

[ she laughs, shaking her head. ]

Yeah, and we also have people here to help make sure no one gets burned. So you can stop, yelp, and get help.

That sounds like it could go on a poster. Though I'm not sure what it'd be advertising...maybe for the fire department?

[ She laughs, shaking her head. ]

I guess so! It'd be kind of appropriate.

[ But even as she says so, she hears someone calling out her name, turning herself to look back toward the main fireworks display. She recognises the one calling out to her, lifting up her unoccupied hand to wave back. ]

I'd better get going. It's nice to meet you, Kaoru-san! I hope we get to talk together again soon!

[ She flashes a smile, all innocent earnesty from a girl who's been going blind off and on for days. She barely lingers for a response before heading off, glad for the better parts of tonight's watermelon and firework festivities. Meeting people, even those who needed their distance for one reason or another, is a pleasant thing, most the time. ]

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[ open ] 'cause baby you're a firework

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Sorry for the late reply. RL was crazy this month.

hahaha it's all fine! life hits like that

o/

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